Northerners savour Guelph trek to play Wovles and Greyhounds
By Tony Saxon, Guelph Mercury
For most junior hockey players the so-called Northern Swing to Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury is not something to look forward to.
Long, tedious bus rides, potential bad weather, killing hours in shared motel rooms and two games in tough rinks are all ingredients for a miserable time.
Not so for the Guelph Storm’s Patrick Watling and Tyler Bertuzzi, the team’s northern boys.
Watling, a Sault Ste. Marie native, and Bertuzzi, who hails from Sudbury, get a rare opportunity to play in front of family and friends this weekend.
The Storm leaves Thursday for Sudbury, which will be its base for games in Sault Ste. Marie Friday night and in Sudbury on Sunday afternoon.
The Storm only plays twice in Sault Ste. Marie and once in Sudbury each season.
“It’s a really big deal because you only play there twice a season. You’re always really looking forward to it,” said Watling, who has 15 tickets on reserve for family and friends for both the Sault and three hours up the highway in Sudbury.
“Everyone back home knows a month in advance when you’re coming into town, so there’s a lot of excitement.”
While family makes the odd trip down to Guelph to see him play, friends can rarely afford to make the eight-hour trek to see a Storm home game.
Watling missed his chance to play at home earlier this season when he broke a finger in Saginaw the night before.
“I got hurt the day before. That was really disappointing,” he said.
He expects a better experience this time around.
“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time,” he said of Friday’s game.